YAHOO NEEDS YOUR HELP: Please Help The Company Figure Out What It Ishttp://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-yahoo/comments
en-usWed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:06:07 -0400Henry Blodgethttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/4ca4a37f7f8b9a3948750100Maurice BretzfieldThu, 30 Sep 2010 10:49:35 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4ca4a37f7f8b9a3948750100
It's a poor little lamb that has lost its way, baaaa, baaaa, baaaa.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4ca413267f8b9a4232b70300LeeThu, 30 Sep 2010 00:33:42 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4ca413267f8b9a4232b70300
A "portal" to what, Henry?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9b7da47f8b9a2c3f670300Scott W.Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:17:40 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9b7da47f8b9a2c3f670300
For the millions of dollars of salaries paid to the top executives who are responsible for figuring this out, fire the lot. If I were Jerry I'd wave my hand like The Donald and say "You're fired! Go! Get out of here!" Stop wasting the firm's money on failed and tired guessing games. This dilemma proves that most corporate leaders are practicing the Peter Principle, by having been promoted to their level of incompetence. A baboon would have made better random decisions and saved billions of dollars.
That being said, Yahoo is simply a brand, not a "thing." A brand is a set of customer experiences that add up to an emotional connection with services or goods. The Yahoo brand includes using email, content and services. On purely statistical terms, its a publicly traded company focusing on internet and web delivered services. Period. Think about Apple, what is it? It's a damn hip company, end of story. That's why people want their products, are drawn to it. An almost perverse drive for coolness, quality, innovation and design make "it" what "it" IS!! (da brand, word!)
Yahoo should focus on improving its brand, playing to its heritage, being cool and desirable, not just a random assortment of things, deals, partnerships, and whatever else the fuck. Yeah, and it works kinda like a portal but that sounds boring and not so cool. Good luck with that.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98ef367f8b9a3430da0600wenwhoTue, 21 Sep 2010 13:45:26 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98ef367f8b9a3430da0600
Yahoo is an annoying toolbar. Nothing more.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98cbac7f8b9a5f3d8a0000MobileGeorgeTue, 21 Sep 2010 11:13:48 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98cbac7f8b9a5f3d8a0000
I know it's hard to believe, but for many people, Yahoo is the Internet.
I know many of us have moved on, and so I find it surprising how many people still go to Yahoo whenever they open a browser window and they do everything from there. I once changed a friend's browser home page from Yahoo to a customized version of iGoogle (containing local news, weather, TV and movie listings, etc.). and they hated it. I mean they hated it so much that a few hours later I got a nasty call accusing me of "breaking their computer" and they demanded that I fix it right now and put it back to Yahoo. I know what you are thinking. Who are these people, right? But apparently they are out there and there are a lot of them.
Perhaps some people don't like change. Yahoo still gets a gazillion hits a day. The question is, are any of the younger people using Yahoo and is it only a matter of time before their current user base dies off?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98b2cc7f8b9af142600500IMadeOffWithYourMoneyTue, 21 Sep 2010 09:27:40 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98b2cc7f8b9af142600500
A high-capacity shareholder wealth destruction machine?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98a4c67f8b9a564b120000GutTue, 21 Sep 2010 08:27:50 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c98a4c67f8b9a564b120000
My problem with Yahoo! is that I don't use all of its features. I use it for Finance and Answers; that's it. If Yahoo could show me some of its other features (because I'm too busy to investigate them myself), then I would be able to more readily help decide what "it" is.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c93b8e37f8b9aa256120000Joe MontanaFri, 17 Sep 2010 14:52:18 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c93b8e37f8b9aa256120000
Yahoo is a "Consumer Internet company" - just like IAC, AOL, Microsoft (MSN), Google, etc. It's like asking Disney - what the hell are you? Theme Parks, Movies, TV, Distribution, Retail Stores, Production, Pixar, ESPN, yada yada yada....
Google sells ads = media? Apple has retail stores and sells music = retail or record store?
At the end of the day - who cares how they define themselves, does anybody use what they do (even if they can't describe it) and i think yahoo has like 500million users... seems to be ok.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9366db7f8b9a044f500200Ronald SteppFri, 17 Sep 2010 09:02:19 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9366db7f8b9a044f500200
They're a web page with a name that everyone knows but nobody needs.
Sort of like not needing a tree killing newspaper subscription when you get all your news from the internet.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9366787f8b9a8b2ef50900Bob CooperFri, 17 Sep 2010 09:00:40 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9366787f8b9a8b2ef50900
I would call them (and use them as) an aggregator. My.Yahoo is still my "home page" after 10 years. (Force of habit?) For me, they've done a nice job of creating a functional, and very flexible default home page, which neatly ties together my top RSS feeds, local weather, headlines, calender, stocks, etc. I find their UX much better than any of Google's. They also do a great job syncing my Mac address book and calendar with my Palm Pre. (Ironic that neither Apple nor Palm can do that!) Do I look at or click on the ads on Yahoo? Never. Would I be willing to pay for these useful functions? Yes. That's what I don't understand about the whole Web ecosystem - the willingness for advertisers to pay huge money for "brand" banners on the Web and the reluctance of companies who provide value to charge for it. Seems upside down to me. Yahoo should focus on being the best "smart switch" that ties together all the things I use (from any vendor) that is somehow are connected to the Internet. (Sort of like Apple does, but without the proprietary hardware.) You think people won't pay for seamless integration to save time and hassle? Please... time is our most precious commodity.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9364107f8b9a2447220400Michael GarofaloFri, 17 Sep 2010 08:50:24 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9364107f8b9a2447220400
Ha, I was thinking "it's a portal" even before reading this post.
...but then I thought, what exactly is a portal? If someone asked me that, I'd say it's a site like Yahoo. But if Yahoo doesn't know what they are, then how do you know what a portal is?
Does a portal have search? If so... then why are they letting Bing do it for them?
Why do I go to Yahoo?!
-- Their news section is my favorite on the Internet
-- Yahoo Finance, including Tech Ticker, is awesome
-- TV Listings, simple and easy to use
What is that... content? Should Yahoo be a content company? Didn't Google state it has no interest in content, while Facebook is social networking. That would allow the top three websites (not counting YouTube) to reach something of an equilibrium.
A lot of Yahoo features I don't use anymore... Hotjobs, nope... Yahoo Messenger, nope... email, don't need it... the problem is that other websites and technologies are eating their lunch.
Text messaging hurts Yahoo Messenger
Google hurts search... now run by Bing
Hotjobs... acquired by Monster?
Gmail seems more popular than Yahoo messenger
Yahoo Personals... hard fight against eharmony, match.com and many others
Yahoo Games... mobile gaming and Facebook games are popular alternatives
Yahoo is like a castle, that's under siege in almost every direction.
It's the same with AOL. These two companies try to do everything, so they're just getting outclassed by companies that choose to excel in just one thing... or Google who buys companies.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/yahoo.com
I'm an outsider, so I don't know the most popular parts of the website. But according to Alexa, the most popular subdomain is Mail and then Search. Is there growth in this area? How do they go against Google and win?
The most popular parts of the Yahoo website are not content.
I'm not sure this is an identity crisis. Yahoo was (and is) a start page and now other website are doing a better job of attracting visitors. What's wrong with being a #4 website?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92c46e7f8b9a712f4c0c00Bend GulesThu, 16 Sep 2010 21:29:18 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92c46e7f8b9a712f4c0c00
Yahoo is the exact same kind of business as Facebook, Google, NBC, and even Business Insider:
An advertising network. One distinguished both for its audience size and its ability to target based on individual user data.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92c3ae7f8b9a8617ef0a00Online Advertising InsiderThu, 16 Sep 2010 21:26:06 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92c3ae7f8b9a8617ef0a00
Yahoo! is the world's largest digital publisher
they tried to be a search engine.... and failed
they tried to be a technology company... and failed
they tried to be a branded entertainment & hollywood company... and failed
they tried to be an advertising technology platform... and failed
...but they continue to be the world's largest digital publisher of premium content that advertisers want to associate their brand with... they just need to admit it and move on...http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92a7217f8b9aa62cf20000joe layoffThu, 16 Sep 2010 19:24:17 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92a7217f8b9aa62cf20000
Yahoo is a series of tubes!http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92a5b67f8b9a4914760100CocktosenThu, 16 Sep 2010 19:18:14 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92a5b67f8b9a4914760100
A has been...http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92a1d87f8b9a891f420100lilywhiteThu, 16 Sep 2010 19:01:44 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c92a1d87f8b9a891f420100
Can someone at SAI please call for the resignation of Carol Bartz? I've been consistently against her from day one. This drivel further reinforces my belief that she is wrong for the job. Have the guts to tell the truth!http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c929eee7f8b9a801a3f0000Essay EditThu, 16 Sep 2010 18:49:18 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c929eee7f8b9a801a3f0000
Let's start with what Yahoo is not and that is it is not myessayedit or even my essay edithttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9299717f8b9aa810f30900Parlin56Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:25:53 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9299717f8b9aa810f30900
Yahoo is today's newspaper. They should continue making it easier to add the content a user desires and get revenue the way newspapers used too. One problem with its current makeup is that it is hard to find news without a liberal bias.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9298297f8b9a0011cc0600MikeMcDThu, 16 Sep 2010 18:20:25 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9298297f8b9a0011cc0600
yahoo continues to go downhill... first it was losing out to google because a search engine of almost all websites is preferred to a directory of few websites... then they bought companies but did virtually nothing to integrate those companies into a yahoo experience (and still haven't)... even Terry Semel couldn't put the pieces together ... Blake Irving doesn't have a clue, so why does he have a job?
If I were a yahoo shareholder I'd be pissed, but I dumped that stock years ago.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9295427f8b9a4429960100ransuThu, 16 Sep 2010 18:08:02 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9295427f8b9a4429960100
Yahoo has now so bad (outdated, dull) image, that I think they should change their name to Flickr. That is still a love brand, right?
Then sell Alibaba shares for $11 billion, buy Twitter and turn all the services into very good apps and use the rest of the money to buy preferred App space from Jobs on iPads and iPhones. Flickr finance, cars, etc. right next to weather and Youtube icons on every screen.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c928b047f8b9a04177e0400NSThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:24:20 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c928b047f8b9a04177e0400
Yahoo is Lycos, circa 1999. Carol Bartz has found a dusty old copy of the Lycos playbook and is executing it in the vain hope that this time might be different.
1. Outsource search- CHECK
2. Close down businesses with traffic, followings, and monetization possibilities- CHECK
3. Sell off anything that anyone will pay for- CHECK
4. Stop maintaining and enhancing everything else- CHECK
5. Shrink into irrelevance- CHECKhttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c928ac27f8b9af676e90000ShreyasThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:23:14 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c928ac27f8b9af676e90000
probably the best answer!http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9289567f8b9a1226d00c00Five Finger DiscountThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:17:10 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9289567f8b9a1226d00c00
Yahoo is Branson, MIhttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9288f57f8b9ad90f3b0000Five finger discountThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:15:33 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9288f57f8b9ad90f3b0000
Yahoo is a boy-band tribute band playing a county fair in Iowahttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9288c17f8b9ab8272b0000DaveKThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:14:41 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9288c17f8b9ab8272b0000
This is best explanation yet
It doesn't matter what they want to be
Any real talented tech or marketing person will choose Facebook / Google / etc.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9288b07f8b9a0c73730200homeworkThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:14:23 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9288b07f8b9a0c73730200
Henry: If everyone's start page is google and facebook, then what do you have to say about this?
(based on August 2010 US comScore data)
Ahead of Google
Yahoo! Sites regained the top property ranking for the first time in over a year from Google. Yahoo! Sites reported the largest US audience in August with 179MM unique visitors (UV), ahead of Google by 200K UV.
News Back on Top
In August, Yahoo! News Network took over as the News category leader. Yahoo! News Network (which aggregates Yahoo! News, Sports, Finance and omg!) had 25MM more unique visitors than its closest competitor, CNN Network. The Yahoo! News site on its own reported nearly 70MM UVs in August—5MM more UVs than the entire CNN Network.
Network Nabs #1
Yahoo! Network also held on to the #1 rank in comScore’s Ad Network report for the fourth month in a row over AOL. Yahoo! reports a 9% decline in page views while AOL Advertising is down 9% and the Google Ad Network is down 7%.
Shopping Scores
Yahoo! Shopping inched past Google Product Search in August to take the leader position in the Comparison Shopping category for the first time since March 2010.
Audience Grows
Yahoo! Sites reaches 84.2% of the Total US Internet audience. Yahoo! showed 13.3% growth in audience Y/Y while the total Internet population is up only 7.8% Y/Y.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9287a67f8b9afa16e40100freddy beeThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:09:58 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9287a67f8b9afa16e40100
a onetime takeover target, relegated to a footnote in the internet history books.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9285ac7f8b9ae20e3a0300borkThu, 16 Sep 2010 17:01:32 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9285ac7f8b9ae20e3a0300
Yahoo is a place where I lose at Fantasy Football.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9284d37f8b9a8f0e2e0400Jimbo PerkinsThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:57:54 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9284d37f8b9a8f0e2e0400
Google is search, and Facebook is social. So that leaves content (with maybe a sprinkling of communications) as the last, best hope for Yahoo.
Yahoo should be THE media platform: the best platform for the consumption of personalized media, generated both in-house and externally sourced.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9283d47f8b9aa616020000pushbuttonchimpThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:53:40 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9283d47f8b9aa616020000
OK, fair enough, so riddle me this batman, what's your take on the Yahoo-Microsoft deal?
C'mon now, don't shrink away, and slither into the ether, give it to me. Where are we going here?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9282bf7f8b9a70265d0200Henry BlodgetThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:49:03 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9282bf7f8b9a70265d0200
I bash Yahoo in the name of helping the company. I LOVE Yahoo. I think it can be great again.
But knowing what your mission is is critical to success. And I'm not convinced that Yahoo knows what that is yet.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9281cf7f8b9a9e267c0000pushbuttonchimpThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:45:03 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9281cf7f8b9a9e267c0000
Jesus Henry, you spilled your drink again, clean yourself up and then come back to the party.
What exactly is it with SAI that they have to constantly bash Yahoo?
And don't you work for Yahoo Finance?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9281217f8b9a870e770000carabasThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:42:09 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9281217f8b9a870e770000
Clearly they gave up on search, and the barriers to re-entry there are very high. And where is their competitive advantage in the quality-crowded platform or communication markets?
The ONLY possibly profitable path forward is to be a combination aggregator/portal with possibly some content generation as a draw and potential future growth path.
This would require hefty cost cutting and reorganization that frankly is probably close to impossible. Or at least really really difficult.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927ff97f8b9ab1575b0d00Francisco MesaThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:37:13 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927ff97f8b9ab1575b0d00
Yahoo! needs to be like in 2000s. A network-switch. Need to connect all media that can fit together. It's easy, but the web ecosystem has changed from 2K years.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927d837f8b9a9c15e60000Dean WormerThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:26:43 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927d837f8b9a9c15e60000
All the old portals, Yahoo being essentially the last remaining, blew it because they lost sight of the core.....search.
No matter how you look at it, the first and only thing that has allowed anyone, no matter how briefly, to dominate, with a successful ad model......sit down Facebook this does not include you........is search.
It is the core of Yahoo's links business which I believe is their largest single piece of revenue. So they have put their business in the hands of Microsoft. Good luck with that.
Once you get that search back on track, all the other stuff is just Christmas ornaments hanging from the search tree.
Because search has essentially become the yellow pages business, they are now at a tipping point and it can be a long and fast decline.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927ba47f8b9ad95b950300IntellectGetOneThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:18:44 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927ba47f8b9ad95b950300
Depends who the speaker is.
If it is an executive, or wannabe, Yahoo is a paradigm shift focused on mobile with an emphasis on social and platform expansion that provides users with a self-directed experience.
If you are an investor:
Yahoo is a mistake.
If you are a partner:
Yahoo is a company that lacks anyone capable of making a decision.
If you are a consumer:
Yahoo has mail, news and other stuff I can read all in one spot.
If you are an advertiser:
Yahoo has a lot of eye-balls.
If you are an admirer of foul-mouthed CEO's:
Yahoo has a CEO with a lot of balls.
If you are Google, Microsoft, eBay or Alibaba:
Yahoo who?
If you are Henry Blodget:
Yahoo is a punching bag.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927b687f8b9a10152d0300Yahoo Is...Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:17:44 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927b687f8b9a10152d0300
...a joke.
It's a dying company. It is today what AOL was a couple of years ago. It's a place, as an employee, to build your brand before going to a better company.
Or, if you're a slacker loser, it's a place to build a fiefdom.
There are a lot of talentless hacks earning $100,000+ in make-work management positions. In Yahoo!, as in Washington, connections trump talent.
As Carol Bartz - who was paid $47 million to waste over $200 million in failed marketing campaign - shows, Yahoo! is still a great place for corporate looters.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927afd7f8b9a0125310600JamesThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:15:57 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c927afd7f8b9a0125310600
If I had to pick what Yahoo! should be from the above list, I'd say "aggregator". "Portal" implies "gate through which users go to get somewhere else". "Aggregator" implies that they collect stuff for users so that users can stay on Yahoo!. And, they certainly want people to stay there. And, to the extent they can use "media" or "content" or something else as an adjective to "aggregator" that'd be great.
Ultimately, I think they'd like to be a "content creator" or "publisher". But, that's a reach and I think "aggregator" is the necessary first step in getting there anyway.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279ee7f8b9a6325280200DanielThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:11:25 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279ee7f8b9a6325280200
Wow, I made my post below before even reading the other comments. Funny we agree. Now why doesn't Yahoo see it this way?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279eb7f8b9a0d15880000yagliThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:11:23 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279eb7f8b9a0d15880000
It's a flaming pile of you know what going down you know where.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279cf7f8b9a9e14dc0300HoubaHoubaThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:10:55 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279cf7f8b9a9e14dc0300
Yahoo is a floor wax AND a dessert topping.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279ca7f8b9a4225a50200DanielThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:10:49 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9279ca7f8b9a4225a50200
Yahoo is a portal. I am not sure why the company has spent so much time, effort, and money to avoid embracing that simple fact. Closing the Geocities community and selling HotJobs were two very stupid moves (among many others). I am very disappointed that Carol Bartz has turned out to be such a horrible leader. I guess her success at Autodesk was pure luck. She's been at the top for 1.5 years now and made no progress - in fact, she's just gutting the business. She shouldn't be there anymore. Time for another Yahoo management-change drama. You know, HP and Yahoo have a lot in common. ;)http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9278e17f8b9af2145e0000Henry BlodgetThu, 16 Sep 2010 16:06:57 -0400http://www.businessinsider.com/c/4c9278e17f8b9af2145e0000
Anyone? Anyone?
Okay, here's my answer: It's a portal.